Description

Late 19th century. 5-bay symmetrical rectangular-plan former Temperance Hall with 2-bay entrance projection to rear (NE angle). Harl-pointed roughly coursed rubble.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 2- leaf timber door with 2-pane fanlight in bay to centre. (Blocked) window in each bay flanking.

E (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: centred window to single bay gabled hall block to left; crucifix to gablehead above; boarded door with window flanking to right in slightly recessed porch block to right.

W (SIDE) ELEVATION: centred window to single bay gabled wall; crucifix to gablehead above.

Timber framed windows to side elevations; 4-pane timber sash and case window to entrance; blocked windows remaining. Purple Welsh slate; stone ridge; corniced rubble gablehead stack to N (entrance block) gable; cement skews; cavetto moulded skewputts (missing to SE angle); predominantly cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: timber-lined throughout; timber panelled internal doors; timber dado rail; canted ceiling divided into geometric fields; 2-stage timber platform to E end.

Statement of Interest

The Temperance movement developed as a result of rising consumption of alcohol in the early 19th century (taxation on spirits was lowered in 1822) and a recognition that drunkenness was doing no good for the physical or moral health of the population. John Dunlop (1789-1868), a Greenock lawyer and philanthropist, was recognised in his own lifetime as 'the father of Temperance in Great Britain' and recognised the value of a communal effort to promote abstinence from alcohol. He organised an initial meeting in Glasgow in 1829, attended by William Collins, a printer and publisher who fervently advocated Dunlop's views, and together they spread their ideas throughout Britain. A number of different temperance groups grew up from this initial idea, each tackling the problem in a different way; the idea in Glasgow was to provide an alternative to the Public House, the famous Miss Cranston's Tea Rooms developing as a result. Similar concerns about the harmful effects of over indulgence were apparent in the United States at this time, with movements towards prohibition beginning to take off. An exiled Scot living in the US brought Good Templary (an alternative form of Dunlop's original temperance movement) to Scotland in 1869 and the first lodge was established in Glasgow in this year. By 1876, 1 131 lodges had been established in Scotland between Orkney and the Borders, and total membership of the Good Templars had reached 83 717.

Members of the Holm branch of the Orkney Good Templars initially met in the Volunteers Drill Hall in St Mary's Village, until disputes between the Templars and the Volunteers caused the Templars to build a new hall into which they subsequently moved their meetings.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77775282

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)